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Papal Delegation to Investigate Paraguayan Diocese (11893)

Father Carlos Urrutigoity, an Argentine native who is the vicar general for the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, is described by the Diocese of Scranton, which suspended him in 2002, as 'a serious threat to young people.'

Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, will lead the July 21-26 apostolic visitation to the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.

– CNA

CIUDAD DEL ESTE, Paraguay — Pope Francis will send an apostolic delegation to the Diocese of Ciudad del Este to investigate the vicar general, who has a history of sexual-abuse accusations.

Archbishop Eliseo Ariotti, apostolic nuncio to Paraguay, announced July 2 that the Pope will be sending an apostolic visitation to the diocese July 21-26 “to determine not only what has happened recently, but all there is to see in the house of Ciudad del Este.”

Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, will lead the investigation; he is to be assisted by Bishop Milton Troccoli Cebedio, an auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Montevideo.

Father Carlos Urrutigoity, an Argentine native, is a vicar general for the Ciudad del Este Diocese, but he served in the Diocese of Scranton from the late 1990s until 2002, when a highly publicized lawsuit accused him of sexual misconduct involving minors at the now-closed St. Gregory’s Academy.

Both Father Urrutigoity and another priest, Father Eric Ensey, were suspended by now-retired Bishop James Timlin, who also suspended the Society of St. John, to which the priests belonged.

A statement on the Diocese of Scranton website describes Father Urrutigoity as a “serious threat to young people” and says that Bishop Timlin’s immediate successor, Bishop Joseph Martino, cautioned the bishop of Paraguay against accepting Father Urrutigoity as an active priest.

“Bishop Martino … carefully and consistently expressed his grave doubts about this cleric’s suitability for priestly ministry and cautioned the bishop of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, to not allow Father Urrutigoity to incardinate into his diocese,” the statement reads.

“Despite these serious cautions, Bishop Rogelio Livieres informed the Diocese of Scranton that he was allowing Father Urrutigoity to incardinate into his Paraguay diocese.”

The Diocese of Scranton also expressed its ongoing efforts to fight abuse within the Church, “despite what appears to be a lack of reciprocity in this particular case.”

The current ordinary of Scranton, Bishop Joseph Bambera, commented on the case in the statement, saying that “every case of sexual abuse is appalling and leaves profound wounds. Cases such as this demand the promise of every diocese, parish and school throughout the Church to do all we can to learn from the mistakes of the past and establish safeguards for the future.”

A July 7 statement of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este called the visitation “long-awaited,” noting that Bishop Livieres had invited it so that Vatican authorities can “know of all the work being realized in this area of the country” and inform the Holy See “about our vibrant and growing diocese.”

Pope Francis, 7-27-2014, prepared in advance dated 7-2-2014: I did what Canon Law mandates to do, which is the investigatio previa. And from that investigatio there was nothing of that which they accuse him of, we did not find anything of that. This is the answer.

But I would like to add something else on this: I see that so many times in the Church, outside of this case and also in this case, they go to look for the “sins of youth.”

Then you spoke of the gay lobby. Goodness knows! So much is written of the gay lobby. I still have not met one who will give me the identity card with “gay.” They say that they exist.

One must distinguish the fact of being a gay person from the fact of doing a lobby, because not all lobbies are good. That’s bad.

Who am I to judge him? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this in such a beautiful way, it says, Wait a bit, as is said, and says: “these persons must not be marginalized because of this; they must be integrated in society.”

Got it!?

Posted by TheInformer on Friday, Jul 11, 2014 8:35 PM (EDT):

Bobby Lee: Nope, everything from Scranton was documented extensively not only against this creep, but against the defrocked and laicized priests from that homosexual cult, the Society of St. John. Since you don’t give any example of “some of the claims…..were rather dubious” let’s all assume that you don’t know what you’re talking about.

I hope this inquiry from the Vatican isn’t a coverup. The Church must STOP ordaining perverts. In no way is it charity to pretend false acceptance of deviants into the ranks of the priesthood.

Search online for “Jeff Bond” and the college of St. Justin Martyr in Pennsylvania.

Posted by BobbyLee on Thursday, Jul 10, 2014 6:30 PM (EDT):

No problem with removing priests with objectively disordered tendencies. However, some of the claims made against this priest while in Scranton were rather dubious.

Posted by Dave on Thursday, Jul 10, 2014 2:00 PM (EDT):

Those with tendencies towards objectively disordered behaviors are supposed to be removed from the priesthood altogether.

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